Stuck Paying the Bill

Did you ever go out to dinner with your friends and somehow become the one elected to collect everyone's money and pay the bill?

It seems you always end up putting out more money when you become the one collecting everyone else's cash at dinner.

It's happened to me many times. I'm sure nobody has bad intentions, but when you and your group of friends all go out and decide that each person will pay for themselves, they somehow often seem to forget that they need to remember not only the price of their entree, but the cost of their drinks, appetizers, desserts AND their share of the tip!

It's really awkward when, once you've collected all the money, you come up short and either have to put out the rest of the money yourself, or go detail by detail through the bill and 'gently' remind people that they need to chip in a little more...which makes you look cheap when all your really wanted was to be fair!

Many times I just find myself saying 'Dont worry about it...I got the rest' when I really didn't budget for the extra expenditure yet don't want to look petty.

And then there are the people who say 'let's just split the bill evenly'....which you agree to because you don't want to look bad...but if you didn't order as much as everyone else and are now paying MORE than you would have if you just paid YOUR portion, it could leave you slightly resentful.

Have any stories like this? If so, please share!